To get a good crop of cucumbers, you need to regularly feed. Manure is a popular type of natural fertilizer that does not contain chemicals harmful to vegetables. When used in open ground, it is important to observe the timing of application, proportions and dosage, so as not to overfeed the plants.
Content
The advantages of natural fertilizers for feeding cucumbers
The use of manure to increase productivity is a common method that is practiced in home gardens and farms. This is a livestock product of domestic animals mixed with the remains of straw and hay for bedding. Natural organics are highly regarded for a number of advantages:
- lack of pesticides and chemicals that accumulate in the fruits;
- the effect manifests itself gradually over several weeks;
- the soil becomes more fertile and enriched;
- acidity normalizes;
- the number of beneficial bacteria increases;
- the supply of oxygen to the roots improves.
The main advantage of manure for feeding is low cost. Many farmers use the product obtained in their own barnyard. Small farms willingly give it away after cleaning the barn or house for free. Its application allows you to make a profit and grow a quality crop.
When is it recommended to use manure
Topping cucumbers with mullein or others kind of humus on the open ground is carried out in different situations:
- standard scheme as plants grow;
- the appearance of dryness;
- ovary reduction;
- weak stalk;
- whitened leaves;
- poor harvest;
- cucumbers grow irregularly shaped, have a small mass.
Cow or horse manure as a fertilizer contains many useful substances, organic compounds, vitamins. After application to the soil, they gradually dissolve, mix with water, forming a nutrient mixture. If you use them before planting cucumbers in open ground, the immunity of seedlings increases, greens are actively formed.
Types of manure for cucumbers
When growing cucumbers on open ground, it is necessary to remember the properties of the soil. Its fertility depends on the amount of precipitation, composition, acidity. Areas mixed with sand and clay require frequent top dressing. The field, which was allowed to "rest" the season under steam, accumulated in the spring enough nutrients and minerals without enhanced feeding.
Gardeners recommend watering the cucumbers with humus, which is collected and lay for several weeks. This “aged” fertilizer contains more nitrogen compounds, does not provoke a sharp increase in green mass. For work 2 types of natural fertilizer are used:
- Organic Useful compounds are released slowly; as the plant grows, it is not necessary to feed and water numerous times. Contain many minerals and beneficial bacteria.
- Inorganic. They are characterized by an increased content of sulfur, potassium and phosphorus.They break down quickly in the soil, therefore they are used, if necessary, to quickly restore plants when dry, after the invasion of pests.
It is necessary to carefully approach the choice of manure, which is planned to feed the cucumbers. It is obtained from poultry or livestock, and the livelihoods of rabbits are used, which affects the mineral composition.
Mullein
An effective way to increase productivity with minimal time and money is to regularly feed cucumbers with mullein. It contains a record number of trace elements, makes the soil fertile. During long-term storage, the process of decay and transformation into a dense humus occurs.
To get the maximum effect from mullein, gardeners make a compost pit. It should be placed food waste, grass, straw, sawdust fruit trees. All components are densely compacted in layers, shed with liquid infusion of mullein. The bookmark is made in the fall, so that the components are mixed and turned into a finished fertilizer.
Horse dung
At feeding cucumbers with horse manure the soil is enriched with phosphorus and nitrogen, saturated with calcium. This type of organics is recommended for feeding plants on open ground, for use in depleted and sandy areas. After application, aeration increases, the roots grow faster.
It is better to feed cucumbers in the greenhouse with horse manure diluted in water. It is necessary to reduce the concentration so as not to harm the bushes. It is insisted with food waste for at least 2 weeks. If it is necessary to process a large area, it is better to make a compost pit.
Bird droppings
Before transplanting seedlings into the ground, you can feed cucumbers with fertilizer based on bird excrement. Such organics have a lighter structure, a high content of trace elements and proteins. When used during fruiting, the amount of ovary without void is increased.
Gardeners recommend making chicken or goose droppings in a liquid solution. It is preliminarily prepared in pure water in a ratio of 1: 1, it is insisted for 10-15 days, allowing fermentation to thinner. But such fresh manure should not be dug up under cucumbers without breeding: a high nitrogen content can “burn” small shoots of roots.
Rabbit ground
Agronomists recommend rabbit manure as the most “soft” fertilizer, the composition of which is suitable for seedlings or soil in the greenhouse. Animals feed on plant foods, so humus is obtained with a uniform content of minerals and trace elements. But the best way to use it is to make compost or liquid substance.
To prepare the solution, mix rabbit droppings and water in a ratio of 1: 2, insist for at least 2 weeks. It is poured into the wells before planting, carefully poured between the beds after loosening. When used in dry water, excrement must be prepared: dry well, grind, mix with the ground.
Sheep land
Manure obtained from sheep is considered ideal for feeding heavy soil with the addition of clay and sandstone. It enriches it with potassium, nitrogen, makes it more loose and nutritious. It is better to introduce it after harvesting during the digging of the site so that the minerals gradually pass into the ground.
If you plan to grow cucumbers in a temperate climate, it’s best to lay sheep’s ground in the holes before planting. This helps to improve thermal conductivity, young plants tolerate frost and temperature extremes on the soil. But you can use the fertilizer no more than 1 time in 6-8 months.
Pig manure
When growing cucumbers in open ground, pig manure is rarely used. It has a number of significant disadvantages:
- an excess of nitrogen, dangerous for the root system;
- not recommended fresh;
- a long period of release of nutrients;
- does not regulate heat transfer and humidity.
This type of organic fertilizer is rarely used due to a lack of calcium and high acidity.It often provokes plant disease due to an overabundance of pathogenic bacteria.
You may be interested in:Humus
The most effective way to fertilize cucumbers is to add humus or humus. A useful substance after mixing with the soil improves its composition and structure, gives lightness and friability. On sandy or clay soil, it helps to retain moisture after watering, stimulates the growth of roots, and promotes the growth of healthy and hardy plants.
Humus is obtained by laying manure in a compost pit. Within several weeks, the decomposition of the mass occurs, enrichment with beneficial microflora. During autumn work, it is brought into the ground, poured into the holes. It slowly dissipates heat, protects delicate varieties of cucumbers from frost.
Vermicompost
A unique organic fertilizer is obtained from the processing of manure by California worms. It contains many nutrients and minerals, can be combined with top dressing with chemical compounds.
It has a number of healing properties:
- Helps seeds germinate faster
- seedlings are more hardy;
- reduces nitrate levels;
- increases productivity.
Gardeners like apply vermicompost when planting cucumbers seeds. It can be diluted in water and watered beds: it is safe for humans, does not emit toxic fumes and compounds.
Fertilizer technology
More and more farmers are reducing the use of chemicals that adversely affect the taste and benefits of the crop. Cucumbers are demanding on the composition of the soil, react to acidity, lack of oxygen. Organic vermicompost or humus has long been recognized as effective agricultural technology due to the minimum number of side effects.
When using adult plants for feeding, it is recommended that untreated organics be added directly to the ground during digging. Horse or cow manure is applied at the rate of 5-6 kg per one hundredth. The liquid substance is diluted with water to the required concentration.
Cooked beds are best treated with slurry: this speeds up the process of nutrient release, reduces the concentration of nitrogen. For cucumbers, humus is recommended, which forms a thin crust and maintains a moisture balance. In specialized stores you can buy special biodegradable glasses for seedlings that contain organic matter.
Experienced gardeners adhere to the following rules when adding organics:
- Mullein as a fertilizer for cucumbers is best used before flowering. For 10 l of water add no more than 250-300 g of manure, 5-10 g of phosphate or urea.
- You can feed the plants with weak tying or fruiting. In this period, humus based on chicken manure mixed with wood ash is more effective.
- Fertilizer for cucumbers, made by yourself from mullein and potassium sulfate, helps to increase the harvesting period (it should be diluted in a ratio of 1: 3).
Concentrated root solutions should not be used: ammonia fumes burn, provoke weakening and death of the bush.
When it is necessary to feed the cucumbers
Organic fertilizers must be applied in the fall, when the land is prepared for the new season, free from plant debris. When it comes time to plant cucumbers, the manure will decay, and when the snow melts, the beneficial components are absorbed into the soil. An approximate feeding schedule is as follows:
- The first stage begins after the complete opening of 2 sheets.
- After 2-3 weeks, it is necessary to repeat the treatment or add a little slurry to the holes formed for seedlings.
- Before starting flowering, you can make a new portion of fertilizer. To do this, make an in-depth bed between the bushes of cucumbers, carefully pour the mixture along the furrow.
- After 14 days, it is recommended to additionally make a nutritional composition.
The scheme can be used for greenhouses where tomatoes, bell peppers, and eggplants are planted. Simultaneous use with chemical fertilizers does not reduce the beneficial properties of compost.
Features of the use of biofuels
Cucumbers love heat, therefore, when arranging a greenhouse, it is necessary to provide for heating. An economical option is biofuel, which is manure. During decomposition, heat and carbon dioxide are released. In combination with sawdust and straw, it is possible to raise the temperature to 35–40 ° С.
Lay biofuels during the formation of the greenhouse. Warm beds for cucumbers help save time and energy on the care of seedlings. They can be done in different ways:
- Mulching. Cattle manure is mixed with dry straw and laid out on the top layer in the form of a thin protective film.
- Fresh biofuels. It is not used if cucumbers are already planted. Recommended before sowing.
- Liquid top dressing. The best way to quickly feed weakened seedlings. Manure should be planted in plain water, added at the rate of 0.5–1 l per bush.
- Granulation. Fertilizer producers process manure, enrich and dry it, releasing it in extruded form. Such top dressing is easily dosed, does not require dilution in water.
Rules and duration of storage of manure
The beneficial properties of natural fertilizers are preserved only when stored properly, which is carried out in the following ways:
- Hot. Under the canopy, the manure is tightly packed in a pile, covered with waterproof material.
- Cold. On the street, a pit is excavated at least a meter deep. Different types of waste are mixed with straw and hay, covered with waterproof material (film, tarpaulin).
The first option is used in the spring, and the cooked product is consumed during the season. Otherwise, the beneficial properties of the fertilizer are quickly lost. If a whitish coating appears on the surface of the heap, the product is disposed of: infection with the fungus easily transfers to cucumbers.
Manure is an organic product, but an overdose can harm cucumbers. The choice of fertilizing is selected depending on the climate and region, type of soil. In combination with regular watering and removal of weeds, the technology gives excellent results in farms of any type.
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